IN the days before the Internet was introduced, the power of print media, including magazines, could not be disputed in keeping people informed.
Radio and television also brought people up to speed with national and international news, but this has changed with the coming of Internet.
With the advancement of technology, it is just imperative that innovations aimed at reaping maximum benefits from the Internet come to the fore.
This is a reflection of how Times Printpak Zambia Limited, the publisher of the Times of Zambia and the Sunday Times, came up with the best plan in
this Golden Jubilee calendar, to transform itself and take up its rightful place in the country’s media industry.
The newspaper has now gone online, introducing full news publications as online versions dubbed e-times. Easy to access, affordable and has no geographical limitations, these are the key words that summarise this development.
This is what people and indeed readers want. They want to receive news and information quickly and easily online – hence the reasoning behind
e-times.
Of course there is room for printed publications – though their use as reference works cannot completely be surpassed by online resource.
Online news has fast become an easier option for many people that possess various gadgets that access the Internet.
The decision to go online with full pages will help accord Zambians in rural areas, where some due to geographical locations have found it difficult to access newspaper, just as those living outside the country yearn to know what has been happening back home.
At the launch, Information and Broadcasting Services Minister, Joseph Katema exemplified this, saying people in the Diaspora got half-baked information about the happenings in their country.
The full online version, therefore, brings with it opportunities of according readers the news even before the printing process starts. Thus they have access to current affairs and are able to check on advertorials before the actual day the paper is distributed in various localities for onward sale.
The e-times is a completely different and unique product because the whole newspaper, articles and advertisements, are rolled out electronically.
With a strong partnership with one of Zambia’s telecommunications companies, MTN, e-times can be subscribed through the mobile money system.
MTN assured readers that payment would be made without challenges following the successful completion of the migration of the Mobile Money platform to expand its capacity for the benefit of partners and customers.
Various observations were made during Tuesday evening’s launch of the e-times, ranging from appreciation, to reminders about the seriousness of commitment and to ensuring this goal did not falter.
We at the Times will ensure that this innovation is sustained in order to satisfy the readership, advertisers and other clients both local and international.
Print in itself is cost-effective and will always be but, as in the world of publishing, people will look to alternatives when it comes to effectively delivering information to the market for readers to digest.
As Zambia commemorates her Golden Jubilee, the launch of the e-times will also go down in the books of history for Times as being the first media institution to provide the rare access for readers to access its publications in the comforts of their homes or wherever they prefer, but at affordable cost.
To access e-times visit www.timesepaper.com and get the Times of Zambia and Sunday Times sent to your device while you relax.  OPINION